Of Fortitude and Temptation
by PassiveObserver
Summary: Kakashi never wanted to face this, didn't choose to see her like this, but there's only so much a man can take before he chooses temptation over fortitude, and Kakashi finds he's not quite as strong as he'd like to think. KakaSaku
1. Patience

1**Of Fortitude and Temptation**

_PassiveObserver_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the series Naruto. You know who does.

Kakashi was not a religious man, though many argue that he visited the memorial often enough to be seen as a religious exercise.

Though when Kakashi first saw Sakura as a _woman_, he prayed for patience.

Ruefully, Kakashi recalled how the whole ridiculous, and perturbing situation happened in the first place, and Naruto and Sasuke could be blamed. Sasuke had passed the Chuunin exams (Kakashi had lost count, but he was quite sure that this was now Sasuke's fifth attempt).

He had clapped the young man on the back and flashed him his signature eye crinkle, and said "I was starting to worry that by the time you passed the Chuunin exams, Naruto would have become the Hokage." the Uchiha merely bestowed on him The Glare, of which would have struck a lesser man dead.

"Ha!" yelled an ostentatious Kyuubi container next to the Uchiha prodigy. "Forget Hokage! By the time Sasuke passed the Chuunin exams, I would've already named my successor!" and at this point, his two cute students dissolved into childish bickers, which threatened to break into an all out brawl, when Kakashi decided to intervene.

"Now, now boys," he said with a smile, and it was worth the danger to watch them bristle at his derogatory. "Let's not be hasty, save the excitement for later tonight. We'll go somewhere nice, my treat." Of course, his 'treat' meant that he would _accompany _them. It was up to them to define treat.

"AH! I know a good place!" and Kakashi turned to eye the orange clad nin, who, unlike his other teammates, had never given up his style of choice since his Genin days. "Kiba told me a good place opened downtown, a cross between a bar and a club. It's supposed to be preeettty sweet."

For the life of him, Kakashi couldn't quite understand why the boy wanted to drag _he_, Kakashi, The Copy Ninja, Man of a Thousand Jutsu (as well as excuses), to something as inane, boring, fruitless and time wasting as a _club_. For the only thing that would make him far more infamous than the aforementioned titles, was that he was the standard, textbook case antisocial. He might as well be a hermit for Yondaime's sake!

But, it seemed the evening was now in the decision of the last remaining Sourpuss, who shrugged his acquiesce and in doing so, inadvertently sealed Kakashi's fate. He briefly considered dodging out of their little celebration after all, until he peered down at their faces. It had been long since they were boys, eleven years in fact, but he could still see a reflection in their eyes that had first frightened him, made him wary. They had both lost their parents at a young age, and he had somehow ended up filling that role, albeit awkwardly, ineptly and at first, reluctantly.

And now that he looked again, there it was. An admiration, a respect that was not given to just _anybody_. They sincerely wanted him to be there, although Kakashi knew them well enough to know that even if he beaten to an inch of their lives, they would never admit it.

"Alright boys, let's go." he declared jauntily, and was amused when he saw them breathe small sighs of relief. _Such lack of faith for their poor old sensei _he thought, and fell in line behind them, like he always did. It was like they were on missions again, the memories causing a rush of nostalgia. But there was, Kakashi noticed perceptively, something wrong.

"Where is Sakura?" he inquired, his hands bunched up in his pockets and his shoulders slumped, looking like a man who had resigned himself to the gallows - which really, was what he was doing going some place like a club.

The answer was forthcoming, but not from who Kakashi had expected. "She's got work." replied Sasuke, before Naruto could. "I already asked her if she was free to go with us tonight." he said evenly, and his gaze was just as steady, as if daring anyone to ask why he'd taken the liberty to preform said actions and even bothered.

"Ah, I see." and covertly wondered at the man's sudden defensiveness.

They'd arrived faster than he thought they would, Naruto and Sasuke having a heated debate, and Kakashi occasionally offering indifferent speculations.

Kakashi found himself sitting on a tiny table, better situated for drinks than actual meals, or as a matter of fact _elbow room_. The music was too loud, pounding in his ears and hurting his poor, old head. _It wouldn't be surprising if _the _hair on my head was shaking to the damned music._ His scowl was deftly unnoticed by the two drunken ninja. His cute blond student was shouting lewd jokes to his teammate, who was hunched over, suppressing his laughter.

He found himself bored, hungry, and he deduced that he was possibly drunk, evidenced by the multitudes of empty sake bottles in front of him, although Sasuke and Naruto contributed their fair share.

It was in the midst of wondering when the dobes were drunk enough to go home, and admiring the admittedly firm posterior of a young partygoer, that he noticed said posterior was owned by a girl with a shock of pink hair, and the surprise jolted through his hazy mind like a strike of lightening, one that he tried and failed to catch.

_Sakura_, his mind provided helpfully, and despite all the warnings that accompanied this one word, this one person, this one name his one, dark eye roamed the rest of her body appreciatively.

She was with Ino, her bombshell friend, the girl with assets that could rival Tsunade's and yet strangely, it wasn't her he was looking at, despite the piece of cloth on her body barely masquerading as a dress. This time, Kakashi looked at Sakura more closely, and found many of Ino's influence on her style of choice. A turquoise dress, that would undoubtedly make her mint green eyes seem darker. The hair that made her so notable, so famous was piled high on her head, in a messy bun, tendrils escaping and cascading on her bare shoulders. His eyes fell downwards, and past her supple ass, to her legs. Her firm thighs were enticing, her dainty ankles were feminine, so at odds with her brutal strength, the raw power he knew she possessed.

She turned, revealing her _breas– _

Kakashi threw a cow in front of his train of thought, effectively stopping it, although it was much harder attempting to cease the pulsing blood through his veins, and the image of her in his mind. _Think of... her supple thighs, those milky shoulde– No! Think of Jiraiya! Yes! Yes! Naked Jiraiya... think of Ibiki and Orochimaru! Making out!_

He was much more creative than he gave himself credit for, it seemed.

The stupid girl didn't seem to have the obligatory sixth sense that told them when their teachers were having v_ery _vivid sexual fantasies about them, for she turned around and beamed his direction, hopping down from the bar to make her way to her teammates.

Now, who the fuck came up with puberty? What evils in the world joined and decided to wreak havoc upon all teachers in the world by the embarrassing, perturbing, and nerve wracking stage of life that is called puberty?

It had given the other teachers quite a bit of grief in the past and he was thankfully excluded from it, her defecting from his team and joining with Tsunade before any of her 'curves' could make themselves known.

True, it wasn't like he didn't _see_, her for the last six years, but the occasions had been brief, if not awkward. He didn't go out of his way to speak with her, despite her efforts. He now considered the fact that he didn't want to see her in this new light, like all the other Kunoichi, jaded and scarred, old and dark and angry with the world.

But none of his fears showed in her happy, sparkling eyes, and he was thankful she wasn't quite strong _enough_ to be useful to her village in ways that would certainly scar her. The very last thing he wanted was for her to end up like him.

"Kakashi!" and he wondered briefly how so much joy and excitement could be crammed into one name, and his nonetheless!

His heady gaze was dark, and unreadable as always, and he had his arms on the table, leaning in and watching her weave through the crowd of people, and tried to ignore how her hips swayed when she moved. She was at the booth now, unbearably close and the smell of her skin wafting in front of his nose.

The idiot found trouble wherever she went.

She was oblivious as well, and grinned at him. "I never thought I'd see you in a club, I'm surprised you even agreed to going with those two dobes." here she spared them a glance that spoke volumes of her exasperation, and affection. She giggled into her hand, and sat in the empty seat between Naruto and her old sensei.

He was uncharacteristically without words, and Sakura noticed, staring at him in confusion. For as long as she knew him, Kakashi was a good conversationist, he was witty, when he gave the trouble to be, and she loved that side of him, the side that had a rebuttal to anything she had to say. She had to wonder what made him so silent.

"You're unusually quiet." she informed him, and watched as her old sensei downed another cup of sake.

"Perceptive," he quipped, but she couldn't hear the slur in his words, despite those bottles in front of him. "But I find there's not much use being chatty without a partner of equal wit." he arched a brow at her and watched in amusement as she swelled up like a gobbler, her face red with anger. It was worth upsetting her, just to see the warm flush on her cheeks, although he imagined the circumstances of said blush to be rather different.

"Well excuse me!" she huffed, and continued "My conversation is probably _very_ dull, as opposed to the inspiring one you're having with dynamic duo over there."

Once he was sure his growing grin was safe under his mask, he said "Actually, I find your ability to cast sleep on anyone with your conversation, quite a talent!" he exclaimed, and then muttered to himself, "I doubt I'll be sleeping much after this anyway."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" she questioned loudly, over the blaring music. Her body twisted in her seat to strain toward him, and from where he sat, he could peer down her dress, and caught an eyeful of the tantalizing view of her cleavage.

"Absolutely nothing." and squeezed his eye shut, downing another cup of sake, and trying to ignore the desire gnawing at the edges of his mind.

It was going to be a fucking long night.

* * *

Yah, it's short. / I'm working on it, sorry everyone.


	2. Bedazzled

**Of Fortitude and Temptation**

_PassiveObserver_

**Disclaimer:** I would seriously be rich if I owned Naruto. I don't, but I'm working on 'borrowing' Kakashi for a weekend or two. :3

* * *

Kakashi was a man who had seen many things, dazzling assortments of festivities and battles, and yet he wasn't a man that was easily impressed or awed. Out of all his travels, very little interested him other than his precious Icha Icha books. That, and the rare beautiful women he would buy breakfast for the next morning, one way or another.

So the fact that Kakashi spied Sakura training and was bedazzled, spoke volumes.

It was a day like any other – or so Kakashi tried to convince himself. It was a day spent in the solitude of his apartment, lying in bed and bemoaning a massive hangover, and a curious burning in his loins that he knew had something to do with the fact that he'd been dreaming of a certain pink haired little girl in ways teachers probably shouldn't. But then again, that was always up for debate.

It was pathetic, really. Was he so depraved that he could view his little pink Sakura with a lecherous eye? Small pink Sakura that was infatuated with Sasuke? The one who was fourteen years his junior, and was innocent in all matters concerning the opposite sex? That had to be the only reason why she didn't notice his dark, inscrutable eye raking over her body. That, or she was naive, and foolish.

That, or she trusted him.

It made him feel revolted, the fact that he could even _think_ about her that way, nevertheless look. He remembered that it wasn't that long ago when he himself spooked off a bunch of hooligans who gazed at Sakura in the same manner, when she was still figuring out that she could attract members of the opposite sex. It wasn't a thought he could dally on, one he could muse. It simply was taboo, it was _wrong_.

He felt like he was betraying her, thwarting her trust. Her badly, _sorely_ misplaced trust.

He got up and groaned, deciding to cease his thoughts before they could enter the realms of which sane people tended to avoid. But what did he care? He didn't think he was sane since Sakura turned seventeen.

A shower, a cup of coffee, and brief pep talk in the mirror later, Kakashi was standing in the middle of the street, with his hand in his pocket, and a telltale orange book in his hand. Ignoring the petulant child who asked him what he was reading, he resigned himself to another day, probably filled with tempting little students, and annoying orange jump suits. If he did run into the former, he was hopeful the latter would serve to calm the misbehaving limb in his pants. Hopefully. Not really.

It was difficult to convince himself that he wouldn't run into Sakura today, he knew for a fact that she had the entire two weeks off – a direct command from Tsunade, who said Sakura was overworking herself. Last night was supposed to her last day for quite a while.

And Sakura, being, well, Sakura, would probably sleep in, or lounge around Ino's apartment. So unless, Kakashi thought, he fancied a visit to Ino's home to borrow, say, nail polish, he probably wouldn't see any shocks of pink hair today. Or at least until the next month when he could regain his bearings, or castrate himself. Male appendages are so troublesome.

Ambling without any sense of direction, or purpose, he tried to ignore the foreboding presence of a certain, Jonin jacket wearing, pineapple headed genius. The news he brought Kakashi probably wouldn't be good news, unless he declared that Tsunade suddenly enforced a 'Women must only wear miniskirts' rule.

"Oi, Kakashi."

"Yo."

"Tsunade says to stop being so lazy and that your Genins are waiting at Training ground three. She also mentioned that if you're late, she's going to demote you back to Genin before you could get your lazy ass to the Hokage Building."

"This coming from a man who'd rather watch clouds than sleep with girls." Maybe he didn't swing that way?

"It's troublesome."

"Hmm."

"..."

"Well, I'll be moseying my way down ... where did you say those brats were waiting?"

"Training ground three."

"Yes, that. Hope I don't see you until next week."

"Whatever."

As Shikamaru watched Kakashi's retreating back, he suddenly remembered. "Damn, it was Training ground six!" torn between chasing after Kakashi, and lying down in his favorite spot and watching the clouds.

It was pretty obvious what he was going to choose.

* * *

Wandering over to his destination, after stopping at a vendor for some mochi, and to say hello to Genma, and to help some beautiful young ladies with dazzling green eyes that reminded him of something he couldn't quite put his finger one, he arrived at Training ground three, and at his leisure, despite Tsunade's threat.

And when he arrived there, it wasn't three, scrawny, whiney little Genin he saw. He made it a point to beat Shikamaru into the ground the next time he saw him.

Somewhere in Konoha, Shikamaru shivered in fear.

The sight that beheld him was far more tempting, far more enticing, and yet there was absolutely nothing sexual about it, there was nothing sensual about how she moved, but he was still captured nonetheless.

Sakura was going through her katas, her body twisting and coiling like a snake, and he wondered if that was a little backwards, because he was the one who felt charmed. He wondered how he didn't notice her lethal grace before, it was so blatant, so obvious. But it wasn't her body that absorbed his scrutiny - her poorly concealed body, Kunoichi did tend to dress provocatively - it was the wild, untamed look in her eyes. Glittering, and determined. Her whole appearance was flyaway, and briefly, he worried that if he didn't tie her down, she would soar away and make of her life what others couldn't.

He recognized the moves, some he taught to her himself, and others utterly foreign. He wondered if she had created them herself, but his thoughts didn't linger too long on that. He was too busy memorizing each curve of her body, her bead of sweat clinging to the crevice between her breasts.

But then he realized something, there was a word for what he was doing now, watching his pink haired little student practicing while he hid in the bushes.

_Lecherous_

He missed Sakura's private, coy little smile when he shook his head clear of his thoughts, and even if he hadn't, he wouldn't know what to make of it.

Climbing out of the greenery, he nonchalantly made his way to her, in a way, he hoped, wouldn't reveal that he was just gawking at Sakura's training in the bushes for the better of ten minutes.

She didn't turn to acknowledge him, but the beam on her face said all the words she needed, and Kakashi leaned against a tree nearby, watching her with forced casualty, hiding the fire in his eyes well, and praying Sakura wouldn't notice anything off about it.

"You're left arm is sluggish." he pointed out helpfully.

"Well, you know what they say, the skills of the student are reflected upon their teacher." she glanced at him under thick lashes, and he _swore_ he saw a secret there, one she knew and one she definitely wasn't going to tell him. "You yourself, was the one who taught me that move."

He sensed the challenge in her words, and found the muscles in his arms tensing in anticipation of the fight he knew would ensue, he just hoped that he could get her riled up enough to make mistakes with just a few barbed remarks.

"Don't blame your lack of motivation on your poor old sensei," he chided gently, and was already in the midst strapping on his gloves, removing his Jonin vest – not missing how Sakura's eyes followed the bulk of his muscles – and fingering a kunai. "If I remember correctly, _you_ were the one who unsuccessfully asked Sasuke out on a date when I taught you that technique." Hook, line and sinker. She had always been sensitive about her behavior toward Sasuke, and swore them all never to mention it.

Color flooded Sakura's face at an alarming pace, and he chuckled when he heard her curse his long memory under her breath. "Stupid, arrogant porn reader ass hole." and his lips were pressed together under his mask, failing to seal his laughter.

"Oh! So you're laughing at me, are you silly old man?" she made a great show of packing up her stuff and walking back towards town. "Forget it, I'm not training with you."

"Too afrai–" was all he managed to utter, when the swaying hips of his cute little ex-student in front of him disappeared in a poof of smoke, and not a second later, he felt the cold metal of a kunai at his throat. _God freaking damn!_ He thought frantically _I didn't even see her make a shadow clone._

"Gotcha." she whispered silkily in his ear, and the warm puff of her breath forced him to suppress a shudder from stampeding up and down his back. But she underestimated him.

The familiar figure of her ex-sensei disappeared into a splash of water, and she was suddenly bent backward, a firm, but gentle hand tangled in her hair exposing her vulnerable neck, and a kunai was forced at her own throat.

"You've been hanging around with Naruto," he said amused. She had fooled him, but he was quick enough to threw her own trick back at her. "I haven't said start yet."

She growled at him, and an elbow darted out and struck him in the gut, an attack he couldn't block, for both his hands were occupied.

His breath was knocked out of his gut, and that was all Sakura needed, and Kakashi's hands loosened from her locks of hair, and she tugged away, darting quickly and suddenly disappearing from his sight. Considering who she was facing, that was probably the smartest move.

This match was too dangerous to forgo the Sharingan, so he uncovered his eye, and scouted the area, before spotting her, hidden in a tree.

"Fire release: great fire ball jutsu!" and before Sakura realized it, a huge fireball ripped through the forest and blasted directly where she was sitting, and knew Kakashi must have uncovered his Sharingan to face her. There was a rush of pride, and she knew he must have taken her seriously enough to use the coveted red eye.

Then there was dread, because there was _no fucking way_ she would win now. And there was very possibly, a lot of pain to be suffered when facing a Sharingan armed Copy nin.

"Shit!" she established brightly, and quickly replaced herself with a block of wood, disappearing into the ground.

From under the dirt, she could hear Kakashi yell cheekily "You still alive Sakura-chan?" 'Damn bastard.' she thought, and before executing her move, she pushed her chakra far away, deciding that the Kakashi that stood above her was probably the real thing. "Earth release: Inner decapitation jutsu!" and promptly pulled his foot into the ground and climbed out herself.

She was grinning from ear to ear, and knelt down to his level, giving him an eyeful of her lacy purple bra. _Crap, that's hot..._ and glared at her angrily from the ground. "I never taught this technique to you." he growled.

"I know," she said sweetly, and patted him on the head, like she was consoling a befuddled puppy. Damn her. "Shishou taught me." and then she had the audacity to shoot him his own inverted U smile!

Immaturely, he twisted his head to take a snap at the hand currently patting his head, the feeling was too good, and it threatened to betray his emotions. And then, that was when he had the idea of betting her.

"Sakura-chan, I have a proposition to make."

"Hmm?"

"If I win, you owe me some home cooked meals. At any place, time and meal of my choosing."

Oooh this was bad. Sakura knew he wouldn't possibly make a bet against her unless he had a chance of winning. And him winning meant great damage to her dignity, and slightly less damage to her body. But if she chickened out, there would be no dignity left for him to damage.

_Crap, crap!_ She thought, and she knew Kakashi could see the panic in her expressive green eyes. "Fine. But if _I_ win, you're going to every single medical appointment in the future." she looked at him seriously, and pursed her lips.

"Alright." and as soon as he said this, he disappeared.

"Damn! I was so damned sure that was the real thing!" Apparently not.

And suddenly, Sakura was aware that she was standing in the open, drawing attention to herself with no cover, and the fact that she w_as standing in the freaking open_. "Alright," she whispered to herself. "He knows I know him, means he knows that I would expect him to come from underground, dirty old man. Means..."

Her realization was almost too late, for there was an ominous shadow descending upon her with frightening speed, and she dodged, just in time to see Kakashi's fist whip through the place where her head just was.

Before he could recover from his missed attack, her chakra empowered leg whipped out and struck him on his side, possibly breaking something, but she would be able to heal that later. She didn't regret it too much.

He grunted, and winced, before darting at her, striking her with a flurry of fists, too fast for her to see, and bruising her arms in her attempt to shield herself. The situation wasn't going well for her, and she decided to hightail it out of there.

Disappearing in a cluster of leaves, Kakashi's fist sifted through air, where Sakura once stood, and he glanced around the clearing. Suddenly, she shot from the water, and preformed the Water style: Water dragon blast technique, and he was shot away by a watery dragon.

The clone of him disappeared, and he reformed just behind Sakura, trapping her arms, and forming the tiger seal at her throat. "Give up?"

"Kakashi-sensei..." she moaned, and he went breathless. He had never heard that tone from her, and never possibly expected it to be directed at him. Sensuous, seductive, sultry. By god, he would have to be a monk not to bend her over and fu–

She swivelled her head, to smile coyly at him. "I think your butt is very cute."

His mouth hung open in shock, his eyes wide, and his hands shot off hers as if they were on fire. _What the hell. _He thought, and he felt his brain promptly exploded.

And Sakura took that moment to kick him in the ribs, winding him, and her fingers darted out to strike his chakra points, sealing them. He fell backwards, still dazed and she sat on his midriff, securing his hands over his head.

The position was so blatantly sexual. He felt his manhood twitching in his pants at her cat-like smile, the victory in her eyes and her chest heaving. At that moment, a bead of sweat trailed from her neck to between her breasts, and he felt his breath leave him at the sight.

She was fucking beautiful.

"I win, sensei." she told him, and beamed, when she felt something poke her on the leg. Something nudging her insistently, and she looked down at her ex-sensei, whose eyes were glazed over, looking intensely at her chest.

She hoped it was a banana in his pocket that she had previously missed.

She scrambled off him, her face bright with a hot blush, and Kakashi did as well. The tension was thick and disconcerting, and both parties were perturbed and confused. She shot him a glance, and found him still staring at her, focused, concentrated, like she was the only woman on earth.

She eeped, and looked away again.

"I-I'd, better get going, sensei." she told him quietly, and felt her heart thrumming unsteadily in her chest.

"That's probably a good idea." he replied evenly, and watched her scramble away, escaping from him.

Well, fuck.

**Author's Notes:** Whoa. :D Cool guys, thanks for the reviews! I used to think they really weren't that important, buuut. oo They can really keep an author going, it's motivation, it's an aphrodisiac. :D Thanks so much for the alerts, and the views!

Keep on doing it and keep the author happy please.


	3. Easy

Of Fortitude and Temptation

PassiveObserver

--

Killing ninja? Easy. Trekking thousands of miles through waist high snow in nothing but socks? Easy. Somehow sneaking past crowds of feminist anti-porn protesters? Easy. Working up the nerve to talk to a little pink haired girl? _God damn it!_ Well, not so easy.

Kakashi was an elite ninja, ANBU Kakashi, Captain of _other_ elite ninja! He looked death in the eyes and smiled his crinkly eyed smile, he faced down a horny Anko and got away with nothing more than a mild hard on, and even than, that was cured easily with some mental images of Gai. But for all his cucumber-like coolness, for all his multitudes of hidden emotions, for his reputation of having no emotions, he found himself in a pathetic state. Which was to say, curled up in the bathroom, huddled in a towel, sporting three of his favorite Icha Icha editions, and butter cookies, nearly in tears.

What, in his gosh darned, stupid, silver broom head had possessed him to lose composure like that? He was after all, the Copy Ninja. But that didn't help him at all when it came to little Sakura, even before she had curves, even before she could unknowingly send lesser men (he wasn't sure if he counted as a lesser man yet) tumbling to their knees. Sakura was disarming, and he knew that the moment he saw her in that humid classroom, stuck between the two dobes. Her sharp green eyes darting over his figure in assessment, not missing a detail.

It was the strangest thing for him though, it wasn't her striking pink hair that caught his attention at first, it was her green eyes, the clearest jade, and for the slightest second, he could look into her face, into the future and see the beauty she would grow to be. A premonition, and Kakashi wondered idly if he could have avoided this attraction if he had never glimpsed what she had ignorantly shown. He couldn't be trusted, his was so old and jaded and bloody to cup her in his hands and protect her. How could he? Both his hands were used to defend himself or to kill others, they were hands unused to holding others.

And even if, Copy Nin Kakashi decided _hypothetically_ that he would attempt to court her, woo her? What then? Times had changed since when he lasted tried to 'date' anyone, their customs were different. Sakura would never accept him, he and his messy hair, him and his goofy smile, him, fourteen years her senior. Why would she? There were so many others, better than him, younger than him, less likely to die than him.

Which brought him back to the issue at hand: denial, Sakura, denial, Sakura, denial, Sakura ... hunger?

These butter cookies weren't doing much to calm the monster in his belly at all. Neither did the thought of the little cherry blossom, but he was ravenous for her in a different way. Anyhow, this brought up more options and more consequences. Hunger? Would he dare venture out of his apartment, and run into Sakura? Run into a confrontation he wasn't ready for? He could imagine Sakura yelling at him, and he desperately trying to organize his cue cards while dodging sharp objects being thrown. Not the most pleasant way to spend an evening, all in all. So it didn't take much for him to make up his mind.

Kakashi carefully put his Icha Icha books back into his pocket (custom made to fit the books!) And he made his way back to the living room, unlocking the door and peering outside in a fit of paranoia. After he was satisfied that Sakura indeed _wasn't_ hiding in the couch cushions, he meandered to his cupboard and threw them open, in search of anything edible really. He was greeted with a sock, some mission reports he was supposed to hand in some odd years ago, what _looked_ like a really old sandwich, and a chorus of hunger from his belly. Weighing his options, he considered eating the ancient sandwich, but decided against it. Maybe a quick trip to Ichiraku and back, might not consist of any former students, be it an over hyper Jinchuuriki, an ex-psychopathic genius, or a cute little pink haired medic with delectable brea-

No. Definitely not.

With a resigned sigh, he left his apartment, hands in his pockets with a look of a man who was forced to endure a public castration, upside down while being purple nurpled by Gai.

It was unimaginable that he would have been so jumpy, the Copy Nin never feared anything, never found anything to be afraid of, and he easily found the small kunoichi daunting, more so than a sharp knife being held at his throat. At any chiming laughter, kind voice, or even angry yelling, he leapt away like a skittish cat, afraid to come in contact with her. He doesn't see anything, and reluctantly he took a seat at Ichiraku, trying his best to ignore the adoring look Ayame was giving him.

"Kakashi-san, we haven't seen you here for a long time," she said with a happy smile, leaning flirtatiously over the counter, her admittedly long, pretty lashes fluttering at him. He resisted asking her if there was something in her eye, for whatever reason would there be for her to keep blinking so rapidly? She annoyed him, with her obvious attraction, and mostly because she reminded him of Sakura. Her smile held the same genuine warmth, but there was something off. Most noticeably because she _wasn't_ Sakura.

"Ah, is that so? That's probably because I've been busy disguising myself as Iruka-sensei to avoid detection." he tossed quickly, and could tell by the quirk of her brow that she didn't buy that crap. Good for her, at least she had a lick of sense. He hoped for something that would remind him of Sakura again, maybe she would beat him over the head for his outrageous lie?

No, no, she wouldn't.

"Er... I see then. What would you like?"

He absently pointed to a picture on the menu, and slouched over the counter, his covered face in his hands and his eyes clenched tightly closed, as if his could squeeze all the past happenings between him and Sakura through his lids and make them disappear. They wouldn't though.

"SENSEI! You're at Ichiraku!" he exclaimed happily, obviously. "That's funny though, because you said you don't even _like_ ramen! I mean, why are you here then, if you always complain every time we take you here? Eh?"

"Shutup kid." mumbled a familiar voice, that didn't belong to Sasuke, like he originally thought, but rather to a certain senbon wielding shinobi. He was holding Naruto by the scruff of the neck, although Naruto looked more cheery than disgruntled at being handled like a dog. His big blue eyes peered at his sensei.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"What does it look like?" Genma retorted with a lazy grin, dropping Naruto to the floor (his feet already touched the ground at this point, he was rather tall) "I was on my way to Ichiraku when I catch this kid sitting outside the hot springs spying on girls." he shot Naruto a dirty look, who didn't seem at all repentant. He merely smiled like an idiot and rattled off to Ayame his order of ramen.

"Yeah?" questioned Kakashi derisively, shooting him an unnecessary glare, doubting the senbon ninja's tale. "Are you sure you weren't crouched down right next to him, fighting over the peephole?" His hooded eye observed them astutely, and didn't miss the flash of mischief that fluttered across Genma's face, and a grin. That was all the confirmation he needed.

"Feh, we were on our way to see you anyways. What's gotten you so ornery Hatake? Hokage's breathing down your back about those mission reports?"

"She thinks I'm hopeless on those anyway. Doesn't care anymore."

"Then what the fuck is it man? It's obviously gotten your panties in a twist." Kakashi closed his eyes and groaned. Genma just had to go and mention 'panties', and had conjured all sorts of images in his mind, panties, Sakura. Beautiful, perfect, pale as the moonlight Sakura. The kunoichi in matching bubblegum underwear. Maybe with ribbons on the sides. God, he would love to rip those out from under her legs, bend her over and just-

"Oi! Kakashi! What the hell's wrong with you, retard! I mean, you just got all dazed when I said..." his eyes widened comically, and his senbon went askew in his mouth, a perverse smile curving his lips. "Panties! You dirty old man!" he said, ignoring Kakashi and his bristling, a sharp glare from his long time friend told him to keep it quiet from Naruto, who had his eyes poked up from his ramen - an astonishing feat.

"Hey, hey! What are you guys talking about? And without me!"

"It's nothing Naruto, just about marking some genin with their D rank missions." and Kakashi watched as disappointment flickered across the Jinchuuriki's face as he went down to his meal. When the blonde boy's attention was averted, Genma grinned at his friend wolfishly, and Kakashi eyed him more wryly and suspiciously than an enemy. "So, Kakashi? Who's the unlucky girl to get hitched by you?"

"There is no girl Genma!" he hissed sharply. "There just me, and Icha Icha."

A pause.

"My god man, that's the saddest thing I've ever heard. You need to get laid."

"Uplifting."

"I'm serious man! Tonight, we're gonna go down by the pub and pick out a girl for you. I know you well enough by now that you like nice, long legs."

"No, not long legs. Eyes, pretty ones."

"Eh?"

Before Genma had a chance to do anything, or say anything, Naruto leapt out of his chair as if he'd seen the Yondaime resurrected. "Look there guys! There's Sakura and Sasuke!"

_**Sakura**__ and Sasuke?!_ Kakashi thought frantically, and nearly jumped out his chair and flee straight home, but even then that wasn't an option, it wasn't something he could do. It was something he had to face one time or another, and apparently it was now. Curse ramen to the greatest depths of hell.

He sat rigid in his seat, though only the keenest eye would have told the difference. Unfortunately, there was no such thing as a ninja without keen eyesight, and therein lay the problem. He was stiff backed and hunched over in his seat, not turning at the commotion Naruto was making, although he desperately wanted to. He wanted to know the look on Sakura's face, and especially why the hell she was with Sasuke, although that had never bothered him before. Why would it bother him now? But he already knew the answer to that when Genma gave him a sharp look, when Naruto paused in his heralding, when Sasuke paused on his way to the stool, when Sakura faltered as she said his name, in her lovely, sweet voice.

"Kakashi-sensei." and he could hear the warmth, the smile in her voice despite their last encounter. She slid into the stool next to him, not unlike what she did at the club, although her smile was timid, shy, uncertain this time. As if she were coming home to all her furniture rearranged, familiar and yet different all the same. It was like she was trying to walk on eggshells, and he felt entirely the same, although her willingness to work it out with him was surprising. He had expected a slap in the face, or something of the sort.

He gave her an arch of his eye, curved and sweet, though equally uncertain and a bit forced. Mostly because the Uchiha behind her seemed a little off, agitated, edgy, his gaze darting to the little kunoichi when he thought no one was looking, but Kakashi was always looking where Sakura was concerned. That bothered him, why was Sasuke acting like that? Possessive, hard. He had no right, Sakura didn't belong to him.

"It's nice to see you Sakura-chan, you too Sasuke." though the Uchiha's name was uttered with a bit of coolness, gone unnoticed by anyone else, but said boy. His obsidian eyes snapped back to Kakashi's, and though they were the darkest black, Kakashi couldn't help thinking they were Sharingan eyes, all seeing, nothing going unnoticed. "Likewise, Kakashi." he answered halfheartedly, and Kakashi reached out to ruffle his hair, as well as his feathers. Sasuke hated it when he did that.

"Ah, so where did you and Sakura come from?" _Why the hell were you with Sakura?_

"Nowhere terribly concerning." _It has nothing to do with you._

The two Sharingan men faced each other down, a silent battle, and it was unclear who was in the lead, who won. Yet it seemed that no one else noticed any tension between the boy and his former sensei, and carried on their own conversations. Some ninja they were.

Kakashi flashed Sasuke a tense smile and turned away, suddenly unsure about what he was doing. If Sasuke wanted to court Sakura, wanted to 'date' her, then that was his choice. With his previous actions, Sasuke might've thought Kakashi wanted to be competition! What then, would be the results? A teacher lusting after his student?

But even after his previous thoughts, he turned to see Genma catch his gaze, an experimental and roguish smile tugging at his lips, before deliberately turning to Sakura, his gaze still on his silver haired friend. It didn't take a genius to pick up on the insinuation, or what would follow.

_Oh great._ Kakashi thought, considering just picking up those innocent chopsticks on the table and just jabbing repeatedly into his friend's face. But maybe that wasn't quite safe, you know, psychologically. And Genma was his wingman, lots of opportunities to get laid introduced by him. _Genma's gonna goad me, I'm gonna fall for it and make a fool out of myself. And then something cliche and dramatic is going to happen, because why the hell wouldn't it? My life is nothing but a soap opera for the gods._

"So, Sakura," began Genma, his entire attention on the little blossom now, who turned to him, smiling but wary, Kakashi was sure. Wary because she knew his reputation, though warm hearted enough to give him benefit of the doubt. She was naive, and idiot for that. Genma preyed on those sorts of things, and Kakashi watched in disapproval, though not voicing his concerns yet. Womanizing men would be good practice for Sakura, she'd never encountered many. The males of Team 7 had always done their best to prevent that. "How are you doing?" he purred, leaning in on her, in which then she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously and shrank away.

"I'm doing fine, Genma-san. How are you?"

"Well, not so fine, actually Sakura. You're treating me so unfamiliarly, it's wounding. I'd be better off if we got to know each other better." and he was leaning in, closer, closer, closer. Surprisingly, Sakura flashed him a panicked look, like a frightful doe in need, with her large almond shaped eyes. They were pleading, and he had to resist leaping up from his seat and jamming a fist in the senbon wielding ninja's face. But Kakashi resisted, merely giving her an inscrutable look. Sasuke was behind him, no doubt noticing but Naruto was keeping him distracted.

"W-we know each other just fine Genma-san! Maybe _you_ would be 'better off' if you spent less time womanizing!" a grin flashed over Genma's face and his hands began to move toward her, and that was all Kakashi needed. He got up from his stool, leaving his ramen uneaten. Naruto would probably finish it off.

"Come on," he grunted, grabbing her arm and pulling her off the stool. She hesitated for just a moment, but went with him willingly. "We're going. I'm walking you back home." Sakura gave him a brief, thankful, shaky smile, and he gave no other reaction than a slight squeeze on her arm in reassurance.

He waved goodbye to Naruto and Sasuke, glared at Genma who looked completely unrepentant. Naruto looked bewildered, Sasuke angry, and the boy sent him a hard look, which Kakashi completely ignored.

While walking silently, Kakashi briefly remembered a vow, when he left the house for a simple meal of ramen. He remembered avoiding a pink haired kunoichi at _all_ costs. He remembered praying to all the gods above, _not_ to strike him with any surprises, for surely anything can do him in now. _Who have I killed to deserve this? Oh wait, there was that guy on the last mission, two ninjas last week..._

Right. Well, he go this answer.

The tension was electrifying, shocking, it made shivers trample up and down his back as he chanced a glance at her face, only to find she was looking at him too. So many emotions were on her face, she wasn't as emotionally detached as other ninja. She had her thoughts printed across her forehead, and by her pursed lips and clenched hands he knew she was working up the courage to confront him about what happened on the training grounds the other day. He knew this, of course, but schooled his face to aloofness. She would never know he was just as nervous as she was.

As she opened her mouth to blurt something out, he desperately wished for a remote for the universe. To hit pause, to rewind, back, back, back. An idea popped in his head, and he hastily grabbed at it, and hid behind it like it was a precious shield. "Sakura, you're behavior today was unacceptable."

Her mouth closed with an audible click and she glared at him like a gobbling turkey, probably angry at his audacity. She seemed to be struggling for something to say as she stopped and stomped her feet on the ground in a great display of maturity and tact. "_What?_" she uttered intelligently, and he hid a smile behind his mask, momentarily distracted by the bare humour in her incredulous face.

She seemed to realize this and shook her head. "I mean, what do you mean _my _behavior?"

"I meant your little show with Genma." and he was surprised by the sudden vindictive venom in his voice, the jealousy. _Rein it in man, rein it in. Be calm about it._ He started again, his tone flat, but he could already see the sneaking suspicion in her face. "You don't know how to deal with perverts by now? They're going to be all over you, do you understand? You have to know how to handle them. Believe me, Genma is the least of your worries."

"You're such a hypocrite!" he winced. "'All over me?' you're the only one all over me! What about-" she visibly fumbled over the word 'erection' and settled for "_that_, what about that in the training grounds?"

"Sakura, you're a medic. You know how it is, men can't always control their bodies." he said without flushing like she did. Oh god, she was so delicious, with that angry little pout, a wild flush to her cheeks and a reckless look in her eyes. He nearly swooped down and caught her mouth in a kiss, but he _did_ take a step closer to her as it was. "Besides, Sakura-chan. You're young, attractive. There's reason enough for my temporary slip. I doubt there is anyone who could have resisted you at that moment."

He decided suddenly that this was a good moment for a test, to take advantage of something. He could touch her, make advances toward her and when she pushed him away, he could blame it all on the fact that he was merely testing her evasion skills when it came to perverts. And he would feel guilty for tricking her naivety, but not this moment, because right then all he wanted to do was splay his hands on her bare skin and taste her lips and touch her everywhere.

A predatory look crossed his face in a flash of heat, and sheer hotness. The air suddenly felt humid and heavy, as if it caught the mood of its occupants. With deliberate slowness his large hand pressed into her back and pulled her into him, in a mad rush of adrenaline, he suddenly felt very heady. She gasped as she was molded into the broad front of him, and didn't struggle. "Kakashi?" she squeaked in a little voice, but he didn't listen. He didn't want to, because right at that moment her scent surrounded him in an elusive perfume.

Her lips were soft, red with intensity and blush and he wouldn't have had it any other way. They would be plump and swollen with kiss soon, and a part of him begged her to push him away. This wasn't right, but all at once it _was_. Leaning down slowly, he pressed his clothed lips to hers and could taste her even through the fabric.

Heaven bursted on his tongue.

She tasted of everything forbidden, and everything against the rules, and she tasted like the stars. Dizzy frenzy, the world spun round and round, like a merry-go-round and he couldn't be bothered to get off, because she was so sweet, and just once it didn't feel like he was lost. He wanted her to say something, moan something profound, something beautiful but she only said one thing.

"_Kakashi._" and only then did he realize she'd never said his name like that before, something between a heated moan and a growl, and he jumped slightly with the shock of it.

Pulling away suddenly, he relinquished the warmth and looked at her apologetically. She stared back at him in confusion and something like hurt flitted across her face, and it was wrenching to let her go the way he did, near impossible but he had to.

"I'm sorry, I never meant for it to get this far. I've got to go."

And he left her standing in front of her apartment.

--

Author's Notes: Oh yeah, guys. I'm back. D: After some serious hiatus, I know. But this chappy has some citrusy goodness, fluff and it's longer! BOOYAH. I'll be updated more often from now on.


	4. Hiding

**Of Fortitude and Temptation**

_PassiveObserver_

_

* * *

_

Kakashi wasn't hiding.

No, he most positively wasn't. Because hiding implied that you were afraid, and Hatake Kakashi definitely _wasn't_ afraid of one small, pink haired girl (though, granted, she could break his spine with just a pinky, but that was _completely_ beside the point).

And taking precautionary measures from seeing, hearing, or otherwise having any contact at all with Sakura didn't really constitute as _hiding_, per se. Kakashi was nothing if not a meticulous man who always learned from his mistakes, after all. He was merely preventing any more slip ups on his part, and hopefully, if Sakura was wise, she wouldn't give him any reason to.

And for the better part of three months, things were going just perfectly (and by perfectly, Kakashi meant spending an unhealthy amount of time indoors with all nine padlocks latched, curtains drawn and surviving on whatever could be scraped off the sides of his cupboards). He hadn't seen hide or hair of the girl since the first week he'd started avoiding her. This almost suited him fine, since the girl in question was so fed up with his silence that she'd banged and punched his doors until he knew he'd be getting more suspicious looks from his neighbor than he usually got.

He remembered with no small amount of guilt that he hadn't opened the door, and hastily claimed to have come down with a severe case of pneumonia, in the hottest peak of July, no less.

It was vaguely gratifying to find that she hadn't sought him out afterwards, but underneath that… there was the smallest twinge of regret Kakashi couldn't quite account for. Because Sakura was merely a passing fancy, a result of being old and overworked. She was just an infinitesimal infatuation that would go away, if he avoided her long enough. But despite the long three months that passed, he couldn't quite manage to scrub her smiles from his mind, memories of her impassioned eyes committed to memory.

Kakashi hung his head dolefully, every bit the hangdog his ninken were.

It was hopeless.

Rubbing a hand over his tired face, he leaned against his counter, idly rubbing his chin while holding Icha Icha open, though not really reading the words blurring beneath his gaze.

What to do? Even Kakashi was tired of playing this game of hide and go seek with her (also, malnutrition was a factor), not to mention Sakura herself. Kakashi hadn't paused in his determination not to repeat his mistakes that he hadn't given due consideration to Sakura's feelings. How must she have felt to be pursued so arduously and then simply ignored for months on end?

Groaning self-deploringly, his guilt intensified until his shame forced him to hide his face in his hands.

He supposed that the only thing he could do now was to re-assimilate back into civilization, for one, and also apologize to Sakura for his misdemeanors. And as for his… infatuation, well hopefully it would fade in their platonic relationship – if even that could be recovered.

He supposed he was being very arrogant. There was no chance, perhaps not even the possibility Sakura would even deign to look his way after the way he'd acted, but Kakashi could dare to hope…

He could also dare to use his god given brains. Obviously winning Sakura back with a simple apology wouldn't cut it, and even if she _did_ accept it, the fact that Kakashi knew he could have done more would never leave him alone.

As a friend or as a lover, Sakura deserved nothing but the best.

With sudden determination, Kakashi straightened abruptly, forming handsigns and leaving in a gust of leaves and smoke.

* * *

Sakura heaved a miserable sigh, burying her face in her arms and lying face down on the wooden surface of the table – in dire need of scrubbing, if she had anything to say.

"Forehead, will you _please_ stop moping?" Ino snapped irritably, staring down her perfectly straight nose at the pink haired girl.

"Mmrgh." The girl in question replied, quite articulately.

Ino's eyes softened slightly in sympathy, as she propped her chin in her palm, still staring at her friend dryly, as she sipped a bit of sake. "Get up Forehead. It's nothing a little alcohol won't fix." She reassured, somewhat distractedly. The kunoichi shook Sakura's shoulders slightly, until she sat up, glaring at Ino blearily.

"That's exactly what you said twelve glasses ago, and that's part of the reason why I'm in this sorry state," Sakura retorted snappily, snatching the glass from Ino's hand anyway, and drinking it down.

Ino rolled her eyes. "You're melodramatic, as usual. So what if you haven't seen him in three weeks, Sakura? You're always mooning after guys who don't notice you." The busty kunoichi wasn't looking at Sakura; she was busy smiling flirtatiously at a chuunin who had just walked in the bar.

"_Pig_," Sakura hissed, positively glaring daggers. "He _did_ notice me. I know for sure." She said firmly, crossing her arms at the sudden coquettish look Ino flashed her.

"Oh?" Ino smirked. "Why haven't I heard about this before? Do tell, Sakura." She teased slightly. She didn't let on that her attention was effectively captured, however. She would die before she let Forehead know that her love life was currently much more interesting than Ino's.

Sakura pressed her lips firmly together, concealing a mischievous smile. "I don't kiss and tell."

Ino gasped, and smacked a dainty hand onto the table, jarring drinks and sending an empty glass tumbling onto its side. "Forehead… don't tell me… _you kissed Kakashi-sensei_?" she screeched, near launching herself over the table to shake Sakura by her lapels.

The girl in question had a suspiciously tomato red face, and smacked her palm against her forehead, not sure if she was exasperated or trying to hide her face from prying eyes. "Ino, a little louder, please? I think the man himself hasn't heard you yet," she hissed, glaring daggers at Ino's smug smile.

"I had no idea you had a teacher fetish, Sakura." Ino smirked at her through half-lidded eyes. She ignored Sakura's indignant sputters and continued on, "but be thankful, Forehead. Now that I know how serious it is, I'm willing to help you."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Ino, your idea of 'helping' in the past was dressing me up in scraps of fabric masquerading as clothing. I think I'm better off just… leaving it alone." She replied desolately, sighing again. Kakashi obviously wasn't interested in her past her breasts and hips.

Ino's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, Sakura?"

"I mean, it's not like I'm in love with him. He just made me feel different, womanly when he saw me at the club." Sakura bit her lip. "That's never happened before." She said doubtfully, and Ino groaned inwardly. How was she supposed to tell Sakura that she actually looked _pretty_ when she said that? Even Ino had to give credit where it was due.

"Sakura, you're gorgeous, alright? Guys would totally go for you! Like your hair and your eyes. It's totally exotic. Your looks aren't your problem, Forehead. It's how you utilize them!" Ino stared at Sakura squarely in the eyes, emphasizing each word by smacking a fist into her palm. "And I'm going to help you get the man whether or not it kills you—I mean me."

"Look, look, I know, okay? I agree with you. I just don't think we should be testing out your theory on Kakashi. It's too risky and humiliating! And I told you already, with Kakashi, it was just an experiment." Sakura lied, rather transparently. For a moment Ino took pity on her.

For a moment, Ino considered the wisdom of Sakura's words. It was true. She wouldn't feel any more confident putting the moves on Asuma-sensei. _Especially since he was happily involved with a rather dangerous, ruby eyed kunoichi now_, thought Ino.

"Fine," Ino groused, eying Sakura appraisingly. Inspiration dawned on Ino for a moment, before she quickly hid it from Sakura. It was obvious Forehead was lying about Kakashi, and it was equally obvious that despite her attraction to him, she simply wouldn't _do_ anything about it. Then it was up to Ino to wear the pants in this relationship. There was nothing wrong with teaching Sakura how to be a woman – for God's sake, Forehead was stupid – while manipulating her into enticing Kakashi-sensei at the same time. And perhaps eventually, despite Sakura's hopelessness in seduction, and Kakashi-sensei's ridiculous anti-social mannerisms, chemistry would work its magic.

"Then the first thing you need to do is confront Kakashi-sensei," Ino said resolutely, holding a hand up against Sakura's interruptions "To tell him that you understand his mistake, and that you hope it won't damage your professional relationship. Tell him… hm. Tell him you hope that you can be friends still." Ino knew first hand the sexual tension that resulted from forced platonic relationships. _That_ would make for some interesting developments.

Sakura nodded slowly, eyes wide in awe, her hands twitching as if she wanted to take notes. Ino smirked. Sakura was just too easy.

"That way, you _both_ can move onto other conquests," Ino worded deliberately, waiting for Sakura's reaction.

Sakura paused. "Both of us?"

Ino stared at Sakura contemptuously. "Kakashi-sensei is a grown man. A handsome one, if Anko has anything to say about it, too. You don't think he's been _celibate_ all these years have you? The man's going to move on." Ino smiled deviously as Sakura nodded, and shrugged her shoulders in a blasé motion that didn't quite work.

"Right. That doesn't matter to me." She paused, biting her lip in doubt again, ignoring the bundle of nerves that protested against Kakashi's… recreational activities. "So do I go and tell him now?"

Ino nearly stood up in alarm. "Gods no, Forehead. Just look at the state you're in. You're a total mess. You're going to tell him tomorrow, but before that, we're going to clean you up." Ino said, moving out of the booth and dragging Sakura up by the arm.

"I don't see why I have to look nice to tell him I just want to be friends…" Sakura said suspiciously.

"Just shut up and listen to the master, Forehead."

* * *

Genma looked at the pitiful state Kakashi was in and shook his head.

"You, my friend, are now officially, a pansy." Genma stated baldly. Seeing no visible reaction from his companion, he continued. "She's got you absolutely wrapped around her little pinky."

At this point, Kakashi had already told his entire story to Genma, if the mass amount of empty sake bottles in front of them were any indication. It wasn't easy, getting the story out of such a reclusive man, but Genma wasn't a ninja for nothing ("I swear to god, man, I'll show Anko that picture!"). Eventually, after much coaxing, Kakashi's plight tumbled from his inebriated mouth in nearly incomprehensible slurs and over exaggerations. Genma looked his friend over once more, an ANBU captain, the Copy Nin, now reduced to this.

Pathetic.

"Genma," Kakashi groaned miserably, "Do you realize the severity of what I've done? Years of platonic friendship gone because of this. My precious student… lost."

"Dear lord, you sound like Gai. Stop it. And anyway, so what if you had a boner for the girl? I bet every teacher has for their students, once or twice in their lifetimes." Genma shrugged nonchalantly, apparently not thinking anything of it.

"No Genma, I think that's just you."

The senbon wielding lecher merely shrugged. "So, what do you want to do about it?"

Kakashi seemed to contemplate this question very seriously indeed. "Well, I suppose I could defect from Konoha, shave my head and escape to Rain country, where I would make an impoverished living as a cabbage peddler, but at least Sakura would never find me." A silly notion, of course, but Kakashi was quickly running out of ideas, where Sakura was concerned. His 'great' plan to apologize to her was dissolved, shredded and tromped on mentally, in many scenarios. He'd thought about giving her a rose, but _that_ didn't encourage friendly relationships. And it was either that, or buying her a hamster, but he didn't really trust Pakkun not to get hungry and curious while he left it at home.

He wondered what use there was, being officially declared a genius, having accomplished fifty two solo S-class missions and being marked in every Bingo book, if he couldn't even come up with a plan to apologize to a miniscule pink haired girl.

Pathetic, indeed.

"Okay, listen, you know how girls like honesty or whatever?" Genma said dismissively, clearly stating how he felt about women and their 'honesty'. "Just tell her how you really feel about this platonic relationship crap. Women are understanding about that kind of stuff."

"This is _Sakura_, though." Kakashi said, and though the statement was simple, it was clearly a point. "She can break my spine with a flick."

Genma nodded solemnly, conceding to Kakashi's point. "Yes, but consider the fact that you've been ignoring her for three weeks and she still hasn't killed you. All it means is you need to grow some balls and talk to her. She's young, impressionable. Just don't act human."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, don't act like you're on her level, be cool and stoic. Like I said, she's young. Acting like that will put distance between the two of you."

"Distance isn't what I want, not like that. I don't want her to hate me." Kakashi said, in a rare display of candidacy. The silliness was gone from his eyes, replaced by a seriousness, set in hard, determined stone.

Genma's face paled. Because that was when he knew Kakashi was serious. This wasn't a mid-life crisis, like Genma had initially thought, this wasn't just the infatuation of a silly man to a silly girl. With a sinking feeling, he knew he had to take this seriously now, if how many times Kakashi had saved his ass was any indication, it was the least he owed him.

"Even so, don't you think things are moving a bit fast? She's fourteen years younger than you, and she felt your penis is the first two days of your little epiphany." Genma said nakedly, ignoring Kakashi's flinch, and the residual kicked puppy dog look that guilted him slightly.

"I didn't say that I wanted a relationship at all, Genma. I don't. She's just a girl, and I'm an old man. I'm just saying I don't want her to hate me for being so cold after everything that's happened." Order seemed to be re-established, now. His mask was firmly in place and his eyes cool and guarded. Which was the clearest pointer in the fact that he was lying, of course.

"Hm," Genma hummed doubtfully, as he watched his friend get up and leave a couple of bills on the table – the fact that he didn't skip out on the bill was probably his way of saying thank you.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow," he decided, ignoring the fact that Genma was already pulling a waitress into Kakashi's vacant spot.

"Whatever."

* * *

This was probably a bad idea, and Sakura definitely knew enough about bad ideas to know that she was currently involved in one.

"Pig, this is a dress."

"Miraculous, Forehead. And here I thought you knew nothing about fashion." There was an uncompromising glint in Ino's eyes that warned Sakura not to argue. In a subdued manner, she sighed and snatched the dress from Ino's hands and started to peel off her clothes. Ino smiled in satisfaction and went looking for accessories.

"It's like you're setting me up for a _date_." Sakura said snippily, while pulling the white fabric over her head.

"That's ridiculous," Ino said loudly, laughing it off. "Well, at least not with Kakashi-sensei. After this, we're going to take you boy-watching. See what types appeal to you and see who notices you in return." Ino told her, and when she spun around with a nice pair of earrings for Sakura, Ino smiled appraisingly.

"See, Forehead? Even girls like you manage to look half-way decent." In truth, however, Sakura looked _lovely_. Ino grinned with pride as she pushed Sakura in front of a full-length mirror. "See? Gorgeous."

It was true, Sakura realized, swaying this way and that. The dress wasn't something gaudy, and it wasn't too much. It was a simple summer dress, with slightly frilly spaghetti straps and a luxurious red ribbon that ran just underneath her bust, stark against the white material. Sakura smiled at Ino through her reflection. "You're right. It's beautiful. Thank you." She gave her friend a quick hug, and they giggled.

"Anyway," Ino said, absently handing Sakura the earrings "you should you talk to him now. And if he mentions your attire, tell him you're meeting someone after."

Sakura nodded obediently. "I'll meet at Satsuki's after I'm done, okay?" and she waved good bye, walking out the door.

Which was exactly when her heart started beating erratically. What would she tell him, now that Ino wasn't there to guide her? Perhaps it wasn't too late to establish radio command, so Ino could walk her through every little word?

Sakura took a deep breath.

Everything would be okay. In the end, Kakashi was the same man who taught her, eight years ago, the same man who'd blocked a kunai with the back of his hand for her, the same man who picked her up in his arms during the end of the chuunin exams.

Same man, same smile.

She walked the rest of the way down the stairs, trying to ignore her erratic, beating heart and counting to ten inside her head.

* * *

Kakashi couldn't really say he was looking forward to this morning. This was why he made it a point to sleep extra late, way into the afternoon, actually. If it meant he could delay confronting Sakura, it wasn't too much trouble sleeping for days on end, actually.

But then his dogs showed up. He didn't notice the noise until they'd somehow opened the door to his bedroom, and Bull climbed onto the bed and near suffocated him.

That was when he knew he had to get up, since they were all complaining about how he never fed them, and such.

He was in the midst of ushering them into the bathroom ("You guys stink.") ("Whose fault is that?") when he heard an almost timid knock at his front door. Kakashi didn't move, suspecting who it was, and when there was continued silence on his part, the knock grew stronger, as if Sakura was physically gathering resolve.

Kakashi smiled. She was too transparent, too sweet, and he knew her all too well.

The copy-nin made it to the door, hesitating slightly before he opened it, intending to appear suave and unaffected, though the sight of her had him struggling to keep his mouth closed instead. Thank heavens for his mask. She was beautiful, all pale, and small, and bare shoulders.

"Hi Sensei," She said quite simply, and he saw her frown at her choice of words. She apparently thought that they didn't quite fit.

"Sakura," he replied, inclining his head in a nod, as he gestured her into his apartment. She smiled tightly, while Kakashi gave no clear indication of his feelings, but he shut his door a bit too loudly, and his posture was uncharacteristically straight backed. Neither detail went unnoticed by Sakura, but she wasn't too sure what to make of it.

"Ahem," she coughed politely. "Thank you for inviting me in, I—"

"Sakura?" both Kakashi and Sakura turned to the direction of the voice, and they found one small ninken standing at the door of the bathroom.

Pakkun. Curse him, Kakashi thought.

"Hey everyone, it's Sakura!" and there came an excited chorus from within the bathroom. A stampede of dogs squeezed themselves out of the doorway and came running at Sakura's ankles jumping and panting for her attention. Sakura smiled delightedly, kneeling down to pat and scratch furry heads.

"You guys didn't come for dog biscuits last Friday." She said.

Pakkun gave an approximation of a shrug. "We were needed for a mission with Kakashi."

Ah, Kakashi thought. So this was why they weren't coming around _too_ often, demanding food. Sakura was feeding them. Though Kakashi wasn't sure what to think of the fact that they seemed to clamor for her attention more than his. Probably had something to do with his laziness, though.

Pakkun allowed himself to be picked up by Sakura, as she scratched his tummy with a smile. The ninken locked eyes with Kakashi and seemed to smile smugly while Kakashi grew increasingly annoyed. He was standing here awkwardly while his dogs received all the attention? He didn't think so.

"_Ahem_," Kakashi cleared his throat as every pair of doggy eyes turned his way. "Well, you all had better get rested up _somewhere else_, since we're going to be doing some ninken training bright and early tomorrow." A sadistic crinkly eyed smile was their cue to lick Sakura goodbye and trudge into his bedroom, with hanged heads.

"If I find any chewed pillows, I'm giving you all away to Gai." He threatened still, and the last dog turned around to push the bedroom door shut.

Sakura stared at him. From the calculating looks in her eyes, she was probably wondering whether or not to report him for animal cruelty.

Hastily, Kakshi sought to change her train of thought. His hand met her back and she stared up at him with wide eyes, he pushed her slightly towards the counter. "Would you like anything to drink?" he questioned formally. He knew before his recent infatuation, he would have told her to help herself to whatever was in his fridge.

_Will you please settle down_, he snapped at himself irritably. _You're not a wet-behind-the-ears school boy. _

"I have…" He opened his fridge to view what was inside before realizing his mistake. "… stale milk." He finished lamely and looked at her morosely over the top of the fridge.

Sakura snorted, feeling a bit more comfortable at the fact that he was just as nervous as she was. "Don't bother, Kakashi-sensei. I didn't come here expecting much hospitality wise." She said.

And suddenly, it was easier to breathe for the both of them. Things were almost back to normal.

"But… we _do_ need to talk." She added seriously, and unconsciously, they both shifted in their seats, meeting each other's eyes grimly.

They both opened their mouths to begin, before shutting them, and eying each other cagily. Kakashi laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "You go first," he said, cringing at how much this seemed like a bad romantic comedy. This _wasn't_ a romantic comedy. Where was there ever a romantic comedy where an anti-social battle scared man unwittingly allowed himself to be lured into such a compromising situation with their student?

_Ex-student_, came a tantalizing whisper, which he ignored.

Sakura inhaled sharply. "Look, I haven't seen you in three weeks. You were avoiding me. It was stupid and incredibly childish," she said, pinning him with a hard look, which he internally shrunk away from. "But, in the end, it's understandable, why you acted like you did. Not the best decision, but understandable. It doesn't stop it from hurting though."

Kakashi nearly leapt at his chance at redemption, "I know Sakura, and I'm so sorry. I have no idea what I was thinking, or that I was thinking at all. I'm just… unused to situations where I don't know what I'm doing." He said finally.

Sakura stared, not sure whether to risk a smile. Because there it was, the truth out in the open, both of their vulnerabilities. And that meant something to Sakura. Secrets weren't something that shinobi readily gave.

They were jumped slightly when they realized they were staring at each other and smiling like idiots.

"So, I forgive your little slip, and we'll go back to being friends, alright?" she said, mock haughtily.

Kakashi quickly played along. "Too right. You don't have to worry about any more mistakes of that nature from me in the future. I don't know what I was thinking. It's not like I prefer short A-cup girls." A lie of course, but it was worth it to see her bristle at him.

"And it's not like I prefer chronically late, bad-postured, fish-eyed porn reading men!" she snapped back, with her hands on her hips.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Please, Sakura. If I wanted you, I would have undressed you at least three weeks ago."

"Well, good! Because I certainly do not find you attractive," she said snootily, trying to avert her eyes from the fact that the black shirt he wore at home bulged in all the right places.

"Which works out just _swell_ for me, because you're not my type at all." He shot back, tearing his eyes away from her bare calves.

So they had established the fact that there was nothing between them but friendship… now if Kakashi could only convince his hands to stop trying to reach out and touch her, things would be perfect.

Breaking gazes with him, she stood up, with her dainty little nose in the air, sniffing. "Well, sensei, now that we've sorted that out…" the mockery slid from her tone into a warm, genuine smile. "… we're friends."

Kakashi nodded, hiding his own smile beneath a mask that he was sure Sakura could see anyway. He reached out to ruffle her hair. "Sure, Sakura. I'll see you around."

Sakura nodded contemplatively. "Sooner than you think actually. Next week is Sasuke's birthday. You're coming, of course?" she asked, as Kakashi stiffened imperceptivity. Now why would he submit himself to a night of going somewhere public and crowded, for an ungrateful psychotic boy? _Who happened to have a growing interest in Sakura, at that_? Though he really didn't want to go, he also saw the merits in… _watching out_ for Sakura, while she was attending Sasuke's little get together.

"I'm appalled you even have to ask." He said duplicitously, and opened the door for her as she was slipping on her shoes. Her dainty, high heeled shoes. Which was unusual for Sakura. The girl normally hated to wear dresses.

"Besides, where are you going dressed like that?" he asked, raking a covert gaze along her body when she bent down to fix a strap of her shoe.

Sakura inhaled slightly, recalling Ino's words. "I'm just going out to meet someone." She said finally, straightening with a smile.

If she noticed his usual crinkly eyed smile was a bit tight, she said nothing as she left, him waving after her.

His hand was still knuckle-white on the doorknob long after she left.

* * *

**Author's note**: Hm... I hope people are still reading this story. xD Yes... It took a long while to update, but it is long and has some Kakashi & Sakura interaction. Also, I'm aware that this story is a bit... odd. As in some places aren't quite congruent. I notice, and I'm trying to correct them, just not seamlessly. ;D Please, feel free to criticize and review!


	5. Sabotage

**Of Fortitude and Temptation**

_PassiveObserver_

_

* * *

_

With life being what it was, and with Kakashi being, well, Kakashi – lying conman extraordinaire – he stopped questioning why things never really went the way he planned them to, especially when it mattered.

As such, to say the following would be a lie: Kakashi's infatuation was just that, a mere whim and fancy, he quickly got over it and Sakura somehow reverted back into her cute twelve year old self overnight.

He really could never lie. Especially not to himself.

And so he thought he might admit the truth, if only to himself: His passing 'fancy' had, somewhere along the way, ceased to be a baser admiration of her beauty, and had turned into an appreciation for all of her. He knew the little things about her, now, that he'd never bothered to when she was younger. He knew she liked bancha tea, and that she liked it more bitterly than most others did. He knew she loved confectionaries with coffee flavoring but would never drink it herself (the caffeine made her palms sweaty, she claimed). He knew that she liked to lick food off her fingers, but only did so when she thought no one was looking. He knew the uneven dimples of her smile the same way he knew the back of his hand. He knew all of this and more.

Kakashi knew he was clever, but he never claimed to be wise. Wiser men would admit to having a problem – ahem, obsession – but he seemed determined to ignore the implications.

He was also trying to ignore the smell of alcohol radiating off the shinobi elbowing him in the gut. It couldn't be any later than four in the afternoon. With friends like these, it was no wonder he chose to be a reclusive antisocial.

"Kakashi, the babes are on the move! Pinky's already met up with the blonde chick at that girly bar… Damn. What's her name? Ino? That one's got a pair of legs on her."

"Why are we following them?" Kakashi demanded morosely, shaking leaves off his head from under the hedge, where he and Genma were hiding. Or rather, where Genma was hiding, and where _he_ was forcibly being held captive.

Genma glared back at him from over his shoulder. "This is for your own good. Besides, doesn't this feel stealthy? Ever since I got injured, old lady Tsunade suspended me from the mission roster."

"You got injured because you were drunk during the mission."

"Your point being?"

He rubbed a hand over his face tiredly. "My point is this whole thing is a bad idea."

"Whatever, man. You suggested it."

Kakashi started and glared at his friend hard. "When did I ever—"

"You kept bitching on and on about how your cocktease student was going on a date. The implications were clear, don't you think?"

"I did no such thing. I mentioned it _once_ in the passing you bastard." He ignored the comment about Sakura. It was too early for violence – in his book – and surprisingly, Genma was a mean hand as drunken fist-fu. It was probably how he'd climbed his way up to Jonin, too.

"For you that's as good as a full out rant!"

Kakashi sighed gustily, and conceded the point. He was usually so much more guarded, unless it concerned Sakura, as of late. And in all honestly, he knew that with or without Genma's encouragement, he would have ended up right here under the hedges, following Sakura and plotting the messy demise of her date. Ever obstinate, Kakashi didn't fold so easily, unless he'd wanted to do it.

He sat mutely in defiance under Genma's knowing stare until the man sighed and looked back at the girls who had stepped out with daiquiris. "Look, they're about to leave. Are you going through with this or not?" the senbon wielding shinobi stared back at Kakashi calculatingly.

A curt "Let's go" and a body flicker closer to Sakura and Ino were Genma's only answer.

* * *

"Who'd you set me up with Ino-pig? I swear to god if it's that guy who was obsessed with his sister like last time I'll cut off all your hair in your sleep."

"Did you know Sakura? Jealous girls have huge foreheads."

Several veins popped in her forehead. "Jealous? Of _you_? Don't make me laugh Pig; I'm trying not to let my make up run."

"Wouldn't make a difference either way if it did, Forehead," the blonde spat back, both their hackles raised.

Curiosity won out and Sakura folded quickly – Ino already knew she has the upper hand anyway. "Whatever Pig, just spill the beans. Who'd you hook me up with?"

"Well, if you _must_ know—"

"—I really do!"

"You know the fat kid that always hangs around the Old Shinobi? The one that's been trying to get to Jonin for, like, five years?"

"_Him_?"

"No way! Even I'd never do that to you. Anyway, he has a really smokin' team mate. He specializes in the R&D department. I would have snagged him for myself, honestly, but he was a bit too serious The bookish type, you know? You like those kinds of guys. His name is Hiroki."

Inexplicably, an innocuous image of Kakashi popped into her mind, bright orange book in hand. Sakura viciously stamped his face out of her mind. "Yeah, I do. Guys who read good, proper _literature_."

Ino rolled her eyes, tossing a perfect lock of hair over her shoulder and took a large sip of her drink before she deigned to reply. Sakura knew some things Ino did was just to annoy her. "I knew what you meant, Forehead. Anyway, you don't seem excited at all about this. You're not still obsessing over your teacher are you?" she insinuated slyly. Sakura really was too guileless.

"No, not at all," Sakura denied vehemently, cursing the catch in her voice. "It just seems like if he was really the bookish type he wouldn't agree to this sort of thing."

"Well it took some arm twisting," Ino began coyly. "Actually, he seemed pretty much against the idea until we mentioned your name."

Sakura looked at the blond in surprise. "He knows me? I've never seen or heard of him." She bit her lip uncertainly. "Are you sure?"

"Sakura, most people don't have to meet you to know of you," Ino responded, a touch scathingly. "You're the Hokage's apprentice, the team mate of both the Jinchuuriki and the last Uchiha. And when it comes down to it, you're also the girl with pink hair, for better or for worse."

Sakura wondered about that for a moment. It seemed as though none of the things Ino had described her as were actually her at all. What about Haruno Sakura the medic? The one who saved lives? What about Haruno Sakura the one who knew most of her neighbors, and always said good morning to the old cabbage vendor in the mornings? It made her think about the people who knew her. What did they think? What did they see in Haruno Sakura?

Ino rolled her eyes at Sakura's unconvinced look. Only a girl like her could get depressed just five minutes before a hot date with a hot guy. Ino snapped her fingers in front of the kunoichi's faraway look.

"Sakura, look alive! Your date is right ahead. And looking damn sexy, if I might add."

"Hey," Sakura protested half-heartedly. "He's mine. Anyway, I'm going on a date with this guy right? Where do you come into this?"

Ino smiled. "Oh, you'll never even know I'm there, I'll be hanging around to see how it goes." _And I won't be the only one_, Ino thought, glancing over her shoulder to spy a suspicious blur of grey and brown. Idiots.

Sakura spun around indignantly "What? I don't need anyone to look out for me!"

Only the lingering scent of apples indicated Ino was ever there.

Sakura sighed and looked at the white marble fountain where Hiroki was standing. Now that she had a face to go with his name, she faintly remembered seeing him when she'd gone into the Research & Development department to fetch documents for Tsunade-shishou, or even information for her own work. He'd always been polite, but somewhat taciturn and cool. She never knew he had an interest in her.

However, while Sakura had missed him in a work setting, she was sure she'd have noticed him anywhere else. A well defined face, deep set chocolate eyes and the darkest brown hair, he was almost like what she'd wanted Sasuke to be when she was a child. Cool, composed, but with a hint of dimple and softer eyes.

A smile found its way onto her face, fake but not forced

* * *

Perhaps this date wouldn't be so bad then?

"Shit Kakashi! She doesn't look disgusted at _all_ of the guy." Genma concluded grimly, looking for all the world like a man pronouncing his best friend's imminent death.

"Mm," Kakashi replied monotonously, his back turned towards Genma – and Sakura. He personally knew Hiroki. What did Sakura see in that guy anyway? Whenever Kakashi saw him he always had a book in his hand. How boring! Kakashi turned another page of Icha Icha.

"Aw damn it, man. She isn't even throwing her drink in his face. Will you stop pretending to read that! Come here and see this."

Kakashi wasn't _pretending_ to read Icha Icha out of feigned disinterest! He flipped another page. Now to wait exactly fifteen seconds before he turned a page again, in order to achieve a hundred percent nonchalance.

"Oh… _aw_, she's giggling! The guy must've complimented her. About something pansy probably. Like her eyes. I mean, who compliments a girl's eyes when she's got an ass like _that_," Genma chortled, barely dodging a swift cuff to the head from the man who claimed he wasn't paying attention.

Genma tore his eyes away from the seemingly happy couple for a moment to peer appraisingly at his friend. For all appearances, he seemed like he was reluctantly dragged her, and that the girl on the date had no relation to him whatsoever. But Genma had known the Jonin for years, and knew him well enough to know what the tension in his straight back meant, knew by the unfocused look in his eyes that he was keenly listening to Hiroki and Sakura nearby.

He knew that even this man had his limits.

"Oh look," Genma said casually, scrutinizing his friend for a reaction. "He's kissing her."

Predictably his eyes snapped from the pages of his book to the scene that his ex-student and Hiroki made.

He was kissing her hand.

No visible reaction registered on his face, though a shrewd and calculating look stole over his expression. The cunning look was more characteristic of Kakashi. Genma knew he had a plan.

"You know," he murmured, rubbing his chin. "A man who tries to kiss a girl on the first date can't be a good date."

Genma stared at him. "You're right. Not at all."

"He's obviously not good for Sakura."

"Absolutely."

"And me being her considerate teacher, I'm duty bound to protect her, right?"

"Of course you are."

"We should do something about him."

"Yes. Yes we should."

"Because, I'm concerned for her. As a teacher and a senpai."

Genma rolled his eyes. Who did this man think he was fooling?

* * *

Sakura had been right. The date wasn't so bad. In fact, it was fast approaching pleasant. Hiroki was attentive and sweet, and she found herself smiling at his corny jokes.

Only… strange things happened during her date.

While she and Hiroki were crossing the street to a chic little sushi bar they both knew downtown, she'd tripped on cobblestone – damn heels and damn Ino! – he'd made to grab her hand when someone shoved between them, breaking what would have been a romantic moment. Sakura was tempted to break his face, only an old biddy, who was knocked to the side by his intrusion, had beaten her to the punch. Literally.

Sakura learned that day why old ladies had such huge purses.

The strange thing though, was that the man looked almost like _Genma_. How strange was that?

She was sure it was her imagination though.

After that stranger and stranger things happened. A potted plant falling from the roof of a building right where Hiroki was standing. Luckily, he'd spotted a blooming sakura blossom and tucked it into her hair, so that a huge, burly bald man caught the blow to the head. He seemed determined to catch the perpetrator after that, and Sakura supported him whole heartedly, pointing the man to the building where she'd seen a glimpse of grey hair. What sort of senile old man went around dropping pots on people?

They'd arrived at the sushi bar, where Hiroki smoothly slipped the hostess what looked like a five thousand yen bill. They were quickly seated on the top most floor of the sushi restaurant, shaded by a terrace with twining vines overhead.

Sakura propped her chin into her hand and smiled. Her doubts were steadily dissipating about this man, although she wondered why she kept setting him against a certain grey-haired man.

Hiroki's keen eye caught hers and he'd reached across the table to hold her hand.

"Is anything wrong?"

Sakura smiled, in what she hoped was a convincing matter. _This is right. Stop pining. You always do this. There's nothing wrong._

"No, not at all," she replied as she squeezed back.

Unbeknownst to her, four pairs of eyes watched. One pair was worried, and the other steadily gained resolve.

* * *

"Kakashi, no. This is going too far, even for you!" Genma cried, aghast while kicking the incapacitated body of the head chef under the work bench.

The man himself held a suspicious bottle poised over the dish that Hiroki had ordered. The uncompromising glint in his eye made his intentions clear. "Genma, you of all people should understand. Some things just have to be done."

"He's just a kid Kakashi, he's hardly lived his life!"

Kakashi didn't appear to be listening and had poured the liquid over the little pieces of sushi, ignoring Genma's high pitched girlish wails.

He turned to Genma, half bent over the counter in distraught. "Will you stop that. It's not going to _kill_ him. It's just going to do things to him that will make him _wish_ he were dead," Kakashi reassured with no small amount of sadism. "It may also be a fast acting laxative." He shrugged uncaringly. "Not sure." The boy deserved whatever was coming to him, daring to touch Sakura's hand like _that_. Only _he_ got to touch Sakura, period!

Because that was the right of _every_ concerned senpai for his kohai… wasn't it? It was completely normal. _Everyone_ felt this way, once or twice in their lives. Why, he could even name some people with his problem, such as…

Well. That was beside the point anyway.

Abruptly Genma straightened and snatched the bottle from Kakashi's hands, examining the label appraisingly. He nodded in approval. "Not so bad. The classics never do get old. Where'd you get this anyway?"

"Swiped it when you were hitting on Shizune once. Thanks for distracting her, by the way."

"I took one for the team, man. You owe me one, by the way."

"Right."

"So how's this going to go?"

"I figure you could do a henge for me, and bring it down for them."

"What's wrong with the actual waiters?"

Kakashi stared at him drolly. "You knocked them all out. We were only going for the head chef."

Genma stared at the floor in befuddlement for a moment, seeming to take stock of the passed out men lying strewn across the floor. "Well whatever. They'll come to. Henge, right?"

"Mm," he said watching his friend disappear in a cloud of smoke and viewed the changed man critically. Still brunette but he had a round and boyish face. The smug demeanor that was usually characteristic of Genma didn't suit this boy well.

"Will you get that arrogant look off your face? You're a waiter on minimum wage. Now take this and send it up to Sakura's table. I'll be… around."

Moments later they had both appeared on the topmost floor of the restaurant where Hiroki and Sakura were settled, and both were looking quite comfortable with each other. What had happened while he and Genma were gone? Had she and Hiroki gotten closer? How could they have? He couldn't have been gone for any longer than ten minute

Kakashi suddenly wished he'd put something a lot stronger than just laxative in the guy's food.

From his vantage point in the hedges he could hear everything, though the view was rather unfortunate since all he saw of Sakura was her back Though her shoulders really were lovely, what with the way her hair cascaded down her back like that, so he really couldn't complain… until he saw Hiroki lean over to tuck her hair behind her ear.

Genma had better hurry with that sushi or _else_.

Luckily the man – who thankfully had the tact to lose the senbon – had set the platter down on the table and left composedly. The effect was only the slightest bit ruined when he broke out into a tip toeing run, vaulting into the hedges along with Kakashi who glared at him vehemently.

"Some maturity would be nice, Genma."

"Says the man hiding in the bushes to spy on his student."

"_Ex_-student!"

He opened his mouth to retort hotly when something horrid caught his eye, worse than if a Fifth Secret Ninja War broke out, or even that time he'd seen Gai naked.. Something he hadn't accounted for.

Hiroki had the piece of sushi fast approaching Sakura's mouth.

Some thing had to be done.

Without thinking he moved.

* * *

Sakura _loved_ sushi. She really did, but all she could think when she saw his hand getting closer to her _face_ was _I'm not a dog! Stop trying to feed me like one!_

She pondered the ramifications of biting someone on the first date. It probably wouldn't get her a second one but still!

Sakura really _was_ going to snap his finger off… but someone had beaten her to it. Sort of.

From before her nose the piece of sushi was snatched up and shoved ungracefully shoved into Kakashi's mouth.

Or so she gathered because somehow his mask was still up but he was chewing, wasn't he?

And not only that but when she'd looked at the platter in front of them all of the sushi was gone, and was apparently crammed in that man's mouth if his loud chewing was any indication.

Hiroki stared at the man wide-eyed, caught between deference and some vestiges of outrage. "S-senpai!"

Sakura, however, was not preoccupied with boundaries or customs, or societal respect. "Kakashi, why are you here _on my date with this very nice man_?"

"Muugahe ent hee ah a miffum—"

Sakura sighed and shoved a glass of water into his hand. "Swallow, please."

Several loud, wet chewing noises later – the man was so obnoxious! – he'd finally composed himself and told her flatly. "Tsunade sent me on a mission, it's a C class mission. I'm supposed to be a health inspector. I think it's a form of punishment actually, considering the fact that I'm sure even Pakkun and the boys would reject this." He gazed down at the floor dolefully.

Several – unladylike, she was sure – aneurysms popped in her forehead as she struggled to keep from lunging across the table to throttle the man. "You expect me to buy that? And I'm pretty sure the job of a health inspector is to judge the working conditions of the place, not the sample the food of paying customers!"

"I'm sure you should know by now, Sakura, that I don't do things by half." The foul concoction really was working. He was starting to feel queasy.

Hiroki decided to make his presence known at this point (it seemed he was wise enough to know when Sakura was close to blowing a fuse at least. The sounds of breaking glass in her hand was probably a good indication) and cleared his throat. Kakashi flashed him an ugly fish eyed look. "Er, Sakura. I don't know if this happens to you every date, but maybe I was wrong about this. It wouldn't have worked out," he said nervously, his gaze flicking back and forth from him to Sakura. Kakashi was amused trying to figure out who he was more afraid of.

Luckily for him, Sakura had completely forgotten his existence at this point and dismissed him with a flick of her wrist, an opportunity he made good use of. Moments later, Hiroki was gone.

"You just chased off my date!" she snapped, pushing back from the table and standing up, looking quite glorious with flushed cheeks and tousled hair. Her eyes seemed to spit at him.

_You didn't seem to mind so much_, he refrained from saying as it was surely the quickest way to earn him a broken face. "You said you weren't looking for a relationship anyway."

"That's not the point! The point is there are _boundaries_." She sighed. "You'd better have a good explanation for this," she threatened, waggling a finger at him before she left with a huff and loud angry stomps.

He tried to ignore the way her ass looked when she walked away.

* * *

To say that Sakura was confused would be an understatement. Simply put, she did not know what Kakashi wanted. She didn't even know what _she_ wanted.

She didn't understand why everything with Hiroki would have suited her fine a few months ago had that _thing_ with Kakashi not happened. She didn't know why for a moment she was so relieved that he'd shown up and stopped Hiroki from treating her like a good little doll. She didn't know why it felt like she was only angry moments ago because Kakashi was so nonchalant about everything that had happened.

The walk back to her house was a blur; Sakura was too busy trying to dissect every angle of her interaction with him just then.

When he'd stopped Hiroki, it seemed almost as if he were… jealous? Though that wasn't quite the dominant emotion. It seemed like he was trying to protect her. How did he know where they were going? Had he followed her after she'd left his apartment?

And she had seen the look in his eye: it was focused, turbulent. His emotions were as inscrutable as ever, but she could tell whatever he was feeling, he certainly wasn't pleased.

And then he'd simply flipped a switch on his entire demeanor, and she couldn't tell what he wanted.

This line of thought was getting her nowhere, for she was back to where she had started.

Only… there was a dark figure sitting hunched on her front steps. At the sound of her footsteps, he looked up, and something about his eyes had softened.

"Sakura." And she'd stopped. One word, just her name, was all it had taken to stop her in her tracks, only she knew it was more than that. It was that voice, and that tone. It was _him_.

He'd somehow gotten to her house before she had, and at the sight of him she'd tensed, apprehensive, and wary, and scared, but most importantly, she was waiting. Her chin lifted as she stared at him in silence. _You can make the first move this time._

He nodded slowly, as if he understood and stood up slowly. She noticed a plastic bag in his hand from the sushi bar they had just vacated. "I'm sorry I ruined your date." He held out the bag and she hesitantly took it with both hands. "I know you didn't get to eat, so here." She peered inside at the transparent container. A quick inventory check confirmed it: all her favorites, including what looked to be like the tiramisu dessert she'd always wanted to try. She bit her lip. _Don't crack. He's only trying to suck up to you so you won't break his face._

Another peek told her he'd brought two pairs of wooden chopsticks. He knew she never broke them right on her first try.

… _Damn his sensitive ass_. Slowly, she'd laid down arms.

"Thank you, Kakashi. And it's okay. He was right, it probably wouldn't have worked anyway."

Kakashi shook his head. "You can never tell, about those things," he paused guiltily. "And now you'll never be able to find out either way. I'm sorry," he apologized again.

"What I don't get is why you'd do this."

_That makes the two of us_. "Because, because maybe you're right, and he wasn't right for you. I know guys like that, and the types of girls they like. I saw your face when he tried to feed you by the hand and when you realized this for yourself too. He's not the one for you." He was distantly aware that when he'd moved to give her the bag he should have moved back, and propriety demanded. She was too close now, and he could smell the dizzying scent of rice milk and jasmine that marked Sakura for who she was.

She took another step towards him when he thought she would get no closer still.

She released a long breath, not so much a sigh but a winding release, easing weight off her mind and shoulders. He wondered if it would make sense for him to breathe her in, take some of her burdens for himself, selfishly, if he could have any part of her at all.

"Then who? Who is good for me, then?"

Such a dangerous question.

"A gentleman, who still pulls your chair back for you when you want to sit, or holds doors open for you, because even though you're a damn capable kunoichi, you're still a woman." He swallowed. "A man who knows, though, that there are limits. That there are points when you know you can stand on your own, and by God, you'll do it. Someone who worships you, not just because you're beautiful, but because for all that you've matured, you're amazingly childlike and idealistic, and that is what makes you Sakura." He cursed the hand that had crept up from his side to curve around the smooth apple of her cheeks.

Wide eyed with awe and red cheeked, she was something more than just 'beautiful', bathed in moonlight, and fluorescent lamp light, and her very own inner light. He knew he would never forget how she looked for as long as he lived.

"You deserve a man who loves you." And as soon as he'd said it, his words rang with some sharp finality and they knew that they'd both known this all along.

"Maybe I'll find him, one day." She said, smiling shyly.

His hand slipped from her cheeks to her shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Maybe one day soon."

"So… Hiroki wasn't my type?" she questioned bashfully, tucking her chin down and looking upwards at him through her lashes. His hand was warm on her shoulder.

He nodded seriously. "I can tell you now that the claims of his sexual tendency towards animals aren't just rumors." In fact, he could have this little tidbit of information spread through Konoha like a wildfire by morning.

Sakura seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. "Don't just slander a good man's reputation just because you feel like it," she scolded lightly, laughing and stepping even closer to him, slapping him on the arm playfully.

"That hurt, Sakura," he'd pouted. "A jonin of my position would never slander his peers."

She'd snorted. What drivel. She knew for a fact that it was him who'd fueled the fire to Naruto and Sasuke yaoi fan club last year.

"You big baby. Shall I kiss it better?" half teasing, she'd cursed her own candidacy. She knew what his answer would be long before she asked. All she wanted was the excuse.

The good humored look to his eyes dyed. Instead they'd smoldered, a cocky half smirk she could see under her mask "Please," he murmured in reply, and it was strange, because it almost sounded like he was inviting her to take off her shoes and to make herself at home.

He was tall, or she was short, but either way she was nervous, even though he had unceremoniously planted a fat one on her lips before. But this one was different somehow. Leaning towards him on her tip toes, and him deepening his slouch to accommodate her, their lips were so close—

Until she'd heard a loud grumbling sound and Kakashi grabbed his stomach with wide eyed panic. He stared at her, seeming to curse his fate – she could swear she heard him cussing in a different language – and he looked at her regretfully.

"Sakura, I'm _really _sorry – honestly, you have _no_ idea – but I have to go. I'll see you, definitely, soon." A sweet crinkly eyed smile and before she knew it he'd dipped over her and kissed her on the forehead. His lips were dry, and warm and seared a scorching burn where they'd touched. She wondered how red her face was when he pulled back and smiled, only somewhat tensely.

In a puff of smoke, he was gone.

Shed stood under the street lamp for a long time after he'd left, too dazed to notice a pair of blood red eyes watch from the shadows, calculating and scheming.

* * *

Kakashi's neighbors had gotten used to his eccentricities (rather reluctantly) over the years. Though this one took the cake.

Tonight, they were treated to a chorus of "Why, oh in the great heavens, _why_ did I have to eat that sushi? I could have done anything with it! Sweep it down to the floor, fucking _ burned_ it with a katon jutsu, or shoved the crap into that _bastard's_ mouth myself. Why am I so _stupid_? And oh god, _why did I have to eat the sushi._"

None of them could sleep for the rest of the night, for great thumping sounds like someone repeatedly trying to bash their skulls out ensued for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Author's note: **I'm so sorry I haven't been updating lately, but this chapter is longer, and hopefully it'll stay that way! More emotional development between Kakashi and Sakura too, which makes me feel better about this story.

I know I haven't done this much before, but I realize now how important this is: _thank you all for your reviews_. I know you guys probably see this in a lot of stories but reviews mean so much to authors, especially when they are in a slump. Your comments and feedback keep me going, and I appreciate every single one.

Thank you! Please stick around and review! :)


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